Crystallized
by Rinny Queenston
Summary: After enduring a nightmare, Eren wakes up to find that his companions are much nicer to him than they used to be. And though it may be nice to be friends with them, he can't help but feel... wrong.


_(AN: Okay so this is the first snk fanfic to have ever left my fingertips and I feel really rusty so I apologize if there's any OOCness or if it's bleh, because I honestly don't mean to do it! Anyway, this should be a fun one if I remember to keep up with it! I hope you all enjoy this~)_

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Electricity filled the air, the pounding footsteps echoing along with the sounds of heavy breathing and thunderous snarls. The Rouge Titan stumbled, growing weary from the battle, all while the Armored Titan still stood towering over the Rogue, hands clenched in thick fists at its sides and snorting puffs of steam from its nostrils. Suddenly lunging toward the Rogue, it swung its fist powerfully at the Rogue's jaw, a thunderous crack filling the air along with a splatter of scalding hot blood, the giant being stumbling to the ground in a cloud of dust. The Armored Titan didn't give the Rogue time to heal its dissolved jaw before it kicked it onto its stomach, a furious shout leaving it as it tried to squirm against the larger, but thick fingers gripped its arms in the midst of its struggling and ripped them off with ease, one of the great hands coming down to the Rogue's neck, aiming for the nape where the Armored Titan knew it would find its victim and dug its fingers into the flesh, the Rogue thrashing violently in a panic. The soldiers zipped around with their 3D gear, but their blades were useless against the Armored's toughened skin. All they could do was call out to the Rogue, and hope that it'd get away. Several covered their ears when the Rogue gave a throbbing yowl when the back of its neck was split.

Slowly, the brunet boy laying in his bed slowly opened his eyes, groggy and full of sleep. Slowly sitting up, he winced at the twinge of pain in the back of his neck, his hand sweeping back to cover it. When it felt fine, just a little hot, he sighed, and rubbed his eyes to clear them.

"Does your neck hurt?"

Blinking in surprise, he looked to his side, and stared at the man he didn't even notice was there until he spoke. He was smaller in size, but he was well built with muscle, with short black hair that was parted over his right brow, his narrowed grey eyes were somehow more emotional and less beady than usual, entirely focused on Eren… but then again, when were they unfocused?

Eren nodded, and took his hand from his neck, blinking slowly. "I think I had a nightmare…" his words were slow and quiet, the weird tightness in his chest and the tenseness in his shoulders refusing to leave him.

Levi's forehead creased with what seemed like worry, and that only made the boy in the bed feel even more anxious. Since when was Levi ever worried about _him_? Maybe it was a misunderstanding… it was more likely Levi was stressed about how Eren's condition would affect their plans later that day.

"What was it about?" Levi asked, and for a second, Eren hesitated to answer.

"Um…" he started, just a quietly as before, "… I actually don't remember." Looking down at his hands, he brought one back up to touch his neck, feeling like he _should_ remember.

He suddenly felt something cool on his neck, sending a jerk through his entire body as he whirled around to see what it was, a defensive reflex he had developed over time. But, his eyes widened when he noticed it was just Levi who was trying to touch his neck. He immediately froze, nervous to move; the corporal never reacted well when Eren disobeyed him, and he didn't want to be lectured or smacked. But, when he was met with Levi's cool fingertips tracing the back of his neck, Eren slowly turned to make it easier for Levi to touch him. The corporal's touches were soft and gentle, and the coolness felt good against the ache and the heat of his neck, so it didn't take long for the brunet to relax, slumping from his loosening muscles as the tension left them. Even if he never admitted to it, he was enjoying the contact.

What he didn't expect, though, was for Levi to climb into the bed with him, and though Eren wanted to jump out and keep a distance between them, he could still feel the fingers on his neck, a trained fear leaving him frozen, his muscles tightening with dread. Levi was the greatest titan killer in all of humanity, there was no telling if he were to suddenly turn on Eren, and he was probably using that weakness of the boy's neck to keep him subdued. It was just like the corporal. But, there was no aggressiveness, only the light strokes of the smaller man's fingers, and soon they were joined by a second hand, and though the pressure grew, there was no pain and only relief. Soon, the corporal's hands subdued Eren again, lulling him even better than the sound of rain pattering on the roof. Eventually, his eyes did close, but he didn't realize he was slipping until he fully fell into the corporal's lap, golden eyes immediately snapping open in alarm as they met with cool grey ones, unmoving while they stared at each other in silence.

Soon, Levi cracked a teasing smile, and reached to ruffle Eren's hair.

"Too much for you?" His tone was playful, and Eren's eyes widened even more. What was happening right now?

He bit his lip and couldn't hold off a blush, hurriedly sitting up and scooting away from the other. "I'm still tired… I must've overslept."

Levi gave an indifferent hum, almost sounding bored. "That's alright… you've been practicing your abilities everyday… must be exhausting." Tilting his head whilst looking at Eren, he raised an eyebrow. "What's it like turning into a titan, anyway? Is it tiring? What's it like inside?"

Eren couldn't help but feel his lip twitch into a small smile. "Y-You could ask Hanji…"

The corporal gave a shrug. "That's second-hand information. I want to hear it directly from you."

The brunet frowned again, and he pulled his knees closer to himself, glancing away, feeling… wrong about his shifting abilities. "It's like being struck by lightning," he began, "and then it's like I _am_ the titan, I can see through its eyes, I can feel everything in its skin, but it's unbearably hot… I feel all the pain the titan feels, but for some reason it feels numbed like I'm asleep. Sometimes…" his eyes lowered to the floor, "I hear voices… whispering in my ears. I can't make out what they're saying, but the longer I'm in the titan, the louder and clearer they get. But since I was so distracted by fighting, I didn't hear them… but since we've been training I've noticed them. I can't make out what they say though." Looking up at the ceiling, he continued before Levi could ask any questions. "I don't remember much from being in the titan… no specific events but vague ideas." Turning back to Levi, he frowned nervously. "Is that enough, sir?"

Levi gave a nod, and he reached out to ruffle Eren's hair again, the boy flinching and leaning away, though Levi only leaned forward to make up for the distance. "Yes, that's fine. Hey, Eren," the boy drew his eyes back to Levi's, feeling even more anxious, "relax around me, alright? You're supposed to trust me."

Trust…

Eren flinched, and Levi noticed, but instead of saying anything, he simply moved his hand to the back of the boy's neck again and returned to massaging it gently, the shifter's eyes dropping back to the bed, trying to keep away those horrible memories.

But what were those memories?

He felt like he should've known, but he just couldn't think of them. He trusted someone, and that trust had led to lots of pain, but as he could feel that lingering resentment toward himself, he couldn't place where those memories came from.

Deciding not to dwell on them, he blinked his eyes and looked back up to Levi, who just sat there quietly, his eyes still showing signs of kindness that seemed so foreign to Eren. Was he imagining things? He must still be tired.

"Corporal..?" Eren asked quietly.

Levi hummed in response.

"When's dinner?"

Surprisingly, Levi's lips turned up in a smile.


End file.
